The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken by Mari Passananti

The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken, by Mari Passananti, is a funny, chic, and poignant novel about a modern day woman searching for her Prince Charming.  Zoë lives in New York and has a complex job that is nowhere close to what her College degree is in.  Still, things seem mostly perfect in her life.  She is planning the wedding of the year, lives in a terrific apartment, and has two best friends that have been with her since her freshman year in college.  However, Zoë's world is turned upside down when she is dumped by her fiancé.  After a good deal of wallowing in self-pity, her best friends, Angela and Kevin, are determined that Zoë put down the ice cream, take a shower, and not become the deranged Cat Lady everyone knows.  Things start looking up for Zoë when she finds herself with a secret admirer.  On the outside Oscar seems like the perfect man...or is he?

 I thoroughly enjoyed Passananti's, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken.  It is the perfect beach, vacation, or 'I need to escape reality' read.  The 3-diminsional characters felt real, as did their individual situations.  Passananti did a great job in weaving the lives of Angela, Kevin, and Oscar around her main character, Zoë.  Ultra chic Angela has a great job in the fashion world and is on all of the up and coming lists.  Smart and charming Kevin runs the mayoral campaign for a popular candidate.  Oscar, Zoë's rich boyfriend, has a past he keeps hidden, an ex-wife that keeps showing up unexpectedly, and secrets that Zoë finds hard to ingnore.   Top it off with Carol, Zoë's boss from Hell, and you have a hilarious, romantic, and edge of your seat read.

Angela, Kevin, and Carol all went through major changes throughout the book.  However, the character that went through the biggest change was Zoë.  Zoë started out as a woman who found her self worth in men.  She always had a significant other and did not know who she was without one.  When she found herself alone, Zoë became depressed and helpless.  All of the day to day chores seemed pointless and complicated. Throughout the book Zoë starts to transform into an independent women who realizes that she has to be happy with herself before she can be happy with a significant other.  This is a great lesson for all women today.

Passananti did a great job in creating and breathing life into her New York high society world.  Everything felt real from the fashion, restaurants, clubs, parties, and even the New York landscape.  Passananti was also able to create a world for Zoë and her friends to reside in that resonates with what I actually believe New York living to be like.  However, my favorite parts of the book came when Zoë was at her job.  I found myself laughing out loud at the situations Zoë and her colleagues found themselves in.  Furthermore, there were more than a few times that I had to pick my jaw up from the floor after I read about some of Carol's antics.     

Passananti's, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken is a book that I will definitely recommend to all of my girlfriends.  If you are looking for a light, funny, quick read, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken is for you!  

Rutland Square Press and BookPleasures.com has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken, for the purpose of review.

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